Minutes of Managers-Net Meeting

Time and Date of Meeting: 12:15 pm – 3:45 pm - Thursday 17September 2009

Location of Meeting: 7 Georgia Close, Andover, Hants SP10 2UF

Attendees: G Jones (Chair), R Edgell, A Hickson & N Patrick

1.INTRODUCTION

The minutes of the previous meeting on 24 February 2008 were reviewed and agreed. GJ mentioned that we had passed the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Finsec Website Sub-Committee which had been the precursor of Managers-Net (see Appendix A for minutes of 1999 meeting.)

2.RE POSSIBLE COLLABORATION WITH CWDMS LTD

GJ reminded the meeting that like Managers-Net, CWDMS had been founded following an initiative of IMS – Finsec. He added that the link to their site from our site was still generating a significant number of their “hits”. Planned improvements to our PMTS articles should improve this. We had (for the moment) declined the CWDMS offer of cash because of our Google Ads income. GJ said that CWDMS was solvent and it was working on an improved software package for the CWD work measurement system. However the market for this type of product was in decline, so the longer term prospects for this company were unclear.

3.DISCUSSION OF BRIAN PLOWMAN CONTRIBUTION

RE said that he had now posted most of BP’s articles. AH,GJ and NP had met BP at the Finsec reunion on 30th April. He had confirmed at the Finsec reunion on 30th April that he was pleased with the way his articles were being used. GJ suggested that some of our existing content might need to be reviewed now that BP’s articles had been added. For example was there any overlap between NP’s 54 word article on CRM and BP’s 1239 word article on the same topic. AH said he had given some thought to posting some of the case studies that BP had provided. NP said he had found these case studies useful in his new post and added that he had been approached by BP in connection with possible contracts.

4.PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS

RE had submitted articles Principles of Motion Economy, Synthesis, The Reference Period and a biography of Henri Fayol. He also had articles onChronocyclegraph, Ergonomics, Estimating,Forms Design, Levelling, Management Accounting, Return on Capital Employed, and Team Working in preparation. There was a discussion about RE’s table of Scientific Management Pioneers. (see Appendix B)
AH had updated his draft on Website creation to reflect the latest developments with HTML 5. AH said that he had recently received several articles in a relatively short space of time. He was concerned that the partners might sometimes be holding back articles. GJ and RE assured him that was not the case.
GJ had submitted a biography of Hugo Diemer and articles on Time Management and Industrial Engineering. He also had articles on MTM, Motion Time Analysis, Work Factor, CWD and a re-write of PMTS in preparation.
NPsaid he would collaborate with GJ to produce an article on Business Continuity.
Tables of articles and biographies in preparation are attached (see Appendices C1 & C2). Please amend as necessary.

5.WEBSITE APPEARANCE & PROMOTION

It was noted thatAH introduced the new wording for the website home page. The archive was now referred to exclusively as the Managers-Net Archive. GJ noted that,nevertheless, if one inserted “Managers-Net” as a search term into Google, currently the top two results were still:

Management Services Technical Archive Alphabetic Index

Management Services Technical Archive - Project Management - Alphabetic Index.

managers-net.org/ - Cached–Similar

Management Services Technical Archive - Home Page

Management Services Technical Archive - Project Management - Home Page.

managers-net.org/ - Cached - Similar

AH said he would investigate the HTML headings of the pages to find out why this was so. It was noted that the Archive now had a themed index as an alternative option to the traditional alphabetical index listing. This themed index now splits the topics between the following ten generic headings: (Accounting and Finance; Analysis and Improvement; Executive Decisions; General Management; Human Resources; Marketing; Monitoring and Control; Problem Solving; Quality; Technology). AH said that because of this he would now appreciate guidance on the appropriate generic heading for each new article.

The current use of the Owl iconand GJ’s “tennis” icon in the Managers-Net website was briefly discussed.

6.WEBSITE TRAFFIC & GOOGLE ADSENSE INCOME

GJ circulated a histogram (see Appendix D) derived from our website statistics which showed that in the year ended August 2009 there had been over 312,000 page requests. This compared with less than 30,000 page requests in the year ended March 2003.

The top ten file page requests were currently: job evaluation; pareto analysis; standard deviation; administrative management; statistical process control; work measurement; regression; kaizen; decision making; and, Douglas McGregor biography(see Appendix E).

NP expressed surprise that more contemporary articles like: Lean; Six Sigma; Key Performance Indicators; and, Balanced Business Scorecards did not even feature in the top thirty of page requests. There was speculation that the use of the term “Archive” was bestowing a “museum-like” image to the website, which may discourage the association with more modern techniques. Perhaps Managers-Net Techniques (or Managers-Net Library?) would sound better than Managers-Net Archive? GJ suggested that we analyse the more popular articles to see if they had something in common.

AH stated that the Google Ads continued to earn around $60 a month, compared with current running costs of around $40 a month. AH reminded the meeting that as he had been incurring these costs for over five years, he still had a deficit of around $2,000 to make up.

7.MANAGEMENT TRENDS & WEBSITE PERCEPTIONS

NP said he had registered on the Institute of Industrial Engineering ( ) website and been impressed by the management articles and links it contained. He was considering joining the Institute to access the content only open to members.

GJ circulated chapter summaries from two editions of “A Handbook of Management Techniques” by Michael Armstrong. Both were published by Kogan Page; the first in 1986 (ISBN 1-85091-077-4) and the second in 2006 (ISBN 0-7494-4766-4) (see AppendixF). GJ suggested that the changes in coverage over a 20 year period might be relevant for our future Managers-Net website content. The discussion that followed covered the image of our website and what visitors to it were expecting to find. It was agreed that all four of us should each contact a couple of people under 40 to find out how the website was perceived and what changes they would like to see. GJ said he would produce a draft introductory wording to be used for this mini-survey. How about the following?

Managers-Net Survey

Founded in 2002, Managers-Net is a free Internet library of over 100 articles on management techniques written by experienced UK managers. Currently there are over 1000 requests a day for management information from the site. Managers-Net would appreciate your help in assessing the site.

Does it contain items that interest you?
What is your overall assessment of the site?
What changes would improve the appeal of the site to you?

8.DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was agreed that this would be in December (suggest Thursday, 3rd December). Location to be agreed (NP and AH disagreed on the suitability of Central London)

9.SUMMARY OF ACTION POINTS

All to review overlap between Brian Plowman articles and other Managers-Net content.
All to review and amend tables on articles and biographies.
All to classify future articles into Accounting and Finance; Analysis and Improvement; Executive Decisions; General Management; Human Resources; Marketing; Monitoring and Control; Problem Solving; Quality; or, Technology.
All to analyse ‘top ten’ articles (see Appendix E) to see what they have in common.
All to contact at least one person under 40, to collect views on website having used suggested introductory wording.
RE working on articles on Chronocyclegraph, Ergonomics, Estimating, Forms Design, Levelling, Management Accounting, Return on Capital Employed, and Team Working.
AH working on article on HTML 5
AH to review HTML headings of pages for presence of the term “Management Services Technical Archive” rather than the currently preferred “Managers-Net Archive”
GJ working on articles on MTM, Motion Time Analysis, Work Factor, CWD and PMTS.
NP to collaborate with GJ on Business Continuity article.

Appendix A – Minutes of 1999 meeting

FINSEC WEBSITE SUB-COMMITTEE

Progress Meeting held on Thursday 27 May 1999

at Boots Head Office in Nottingham and attended by:

Gerry Jones (Chair), Brad Poulson, Keef Hellinger

Apologies: Neil Patrick

Summary & Action Points

GJ said, a small budget had been set aside by the FINSEC board, for the creation of a website. The purpose of the meeting was to develop and agree an outline plan that would do this. BP explained that KH was a colleague who had practical experience of setting up part of the Boots intranet site and was willing to help. GJ then outlined the proposed content of the website (see below)

The key element would be the technical archive which would consist of, say, 500 word summaries of most management & management services theories and techniques. As far as he could tell this would be a unique feature on the World Wide Web. It would satisfy the FINSEC mission statement[1], and if the site proved popular, there might be the potential to get advertising revenue.

BP said that the original concept of their Boots intranet site had been largely based on the re-publication of existing text materials. But this had proved unsuccessful, and they had redesigned the site making greater use of graphics.

KH asked who would be maintaining the FINSEC site once it had been developed. GJ said that once the initial design had been completed and debugged, the aim would be minimal maintenance, however the site would be updated to include: newsletters, latest events etc. given the essentially voluntary nature of the project it was important to avoid overloading any one individual. KH said it might be useful to have a bulletin board feature. This could have queries, comments and suggestions for new content. GJ said that if the site was successful the aim would be to have an “expert system” problem solving interface on the home page.

KH felt that attention should be given to navigation and it should be easy to return to other key pages wherever you were on the website. However he was against the idea of frames. He said he had used Adobe Pagemill, Netfusion and Dreamweaver to develop his web pages.

It was agreed that in order to satisfy the objective of having a site available for the World Productivity Congress in October, it would be necessary to have a skeleton site in place by July with a more developed version available for inspection and testing by Board members in August. It was agreed that GJ, BP and KH would keep in touch by phone and e-mail , or

and

The immediate action points would be:

KH to put together demos which he would e-mail to GJ
GJ to scan specimen technical content which he would e-mail to KH
GJ to organise hosting of demo site
BP to research ISPs

Progress to be reviewed on Monday 14 June 1999.

Gerry Jones

28 May 1999

Appendix B – Table of Management Figures

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

THE PIONEERS

Principles of Management / Economics & Accounting / Personnel Management / Production Management
Henri Fayol
(1841-1925) / Adam Smith
(1723-1790) / Robert Owen
(1771-1858) / Thomas Mason
Mary Parker Follett
(1868-1933) / Alfred Marshall
(1842-1924) / BS Rowntree
(1871-1954) / Jean R Perronet
(1783-1860)
ET Elbourne / Alexander Hamilton - Church
(1755-1804) / George Elton Mayo
(1880-1949) / Charles Babbage
(1792-1871)
JD Mooney / Harrington Emerson
(1853-1931) / May Smith
(1879 -1968) / Frank Winslow Taylor
(1856-1915)
AC Reilly / G Charter Harrison / Alec Rodger / Frank (1868-1924) & Lillian Gilbreth (1880 - 1972)
Lyndall Fownes Urwick
(1895-1943) / JM Clark / John Munro Fraser / Richard Brackenbury
(1840 -
EFL Brech
(1891-1974) / Thomas G Rose
(1897-1963) / Henry Laurence Gantt
(1861-1919)
Peter Ferdinand Drucker
(1909-2005) / Harold J Wheldon / Charles Eugene Bedaux
(1886-1944)
AW Willsmore / Russell Mackenzie Currie
(1902-1967)
RM Barnes

MANAGEMENT: ART or SCIENCE

ART = INBRED SCIENCE = HAS TO BE TAUGHT

Appendix C1 Articles in preparation

Topic / Author / Research / Draft / Status
Analytical Estimating / Roger / Review existing article
Business Continuity / Neil/Gerry / TBA[2]
Business Strategy / Roger / TBA
Change Management / Roger / TBA
Chronocyclegraphs etc / Roger / Aug-09 / Sep-09 / Awaiting photos
CWD / Gerry / Dec-08 / Feb-09 / Re-drafting
Economic Theory / Roger / TBA
Ergonomics / Roger / Review existing article
Forms Design / Roger / Apr-08
Industrial Relations / Roger / TBA
Innovation / Roger / TBA
Levelling / Roger / TBA
Management Accounting / Roger / Apr-08
Motion Time Analysis / Gerry / TBA
MTM / Gerry / TBA
Outline of Activity Sampling / Roger / Review existing article
Personal Appraisal / Roger / TBA
PMTS / Gerry / Review existing article
Procedure Manuals / Roger / Dec-07
Return on Capital Employed / Roger / Nov-07
Table of 'Pioneers' / Roger / Aug-08 / Aug-09 / Awaiting comments
Team Working / Roger / Apr-08
Work Factor / Gerry / TBA

Appendix C2 Biographies in preparation

Name / Dates / Written & Posted / RE
Pioneer?
Charles Babbage / (1792-1871) / Yes
R.M. Barnes / ? / Yes
Charles Eugene Bedaux / (1886-1944) / Yes / Yes
Richard Brackenbury / ? / Yes
Edward Franz Leopold Brech / (1891-1974) / Yes
J.M. Clark / ? / Yes
Russell Mackenzie Currie / (1902-1967) / Yes / Yes
Hugo Diemer / (1870-1939) / Yes
Peter Ferdinand Drucker / (1909-2005) / Yes
E.T. Elbourne / ? / Yes
Harrington Emerson / (1853-1931) / Yes
Henri Fayol / (1841-1925) / Yes / Yes
Mary Parker Follett / (1868-1933) / Yes
John Munro Fraser / ? / Yes
Henry Laurence Gantt / (1861-1919) / Yes
Frank & Lillian Gilbreth / (1868-1924) (1880 - 1972) / Yes / Yes
Alexander Hamilton-Church / (1755-1804) / Yes
G Charter Harrison / ? / Yes
Alfred Marshall / (1842-1924) / Yes
Abraham Maslow / (1908-1970) / Yes
Thomas Mason / ? / Yes
George Elton Mayo / (1880-1949) / Yes
Douglas McGregor / (1906-1964) / Yes
J.D. Mooney / ? / Yes
Robert Owen / (1771-1858) / Yes
Jean R Perronet / (1783-1860) / Yes
A.C. Reilly / ? / Yes
Alec Rodger / ? / Yes
Thomas G Rose / (1897-1963) / Yes
Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree / (1871-1954) / Yes
Asa Bertrand Segur / (1886-1975) / Yes
Adam Smith / (1723-1790) / Yes
May Smith / (1879 -1968) / Yes
Frank Winslow Taylor / (1856-1915) / Yes / Yes
Lyndall Fownes Urwick / (1895-1943) / Yes
Harold J Wheldon / ? / Yes
AW Willsmore / ? / Yes

Appendix D1

Appendix D2 - Annual Managers-Net Page Requests for the preceding year

Mar 2003 / 29,068
Apr 2003 / 33,149
May 2003 / 36,713
Jun 2003 / 39,738
Jul 2003 / 41,019
Aug 2003 / 43,636
Sep 2003 / 48,896
Oct 2003 / 54,146
Nov 2003 / 59,026
Dec 2003 / 63,137
Jan 2004 / 67,158
Feb 2004 / 70,817
Mar 2004 / 77,363
Apr 2004 / 83,366
May 2004 / 89,423
Jun 2004 / 97,476
Jul 2004 / 105,081
Aug 2004 / 112,261
Sep 2004 / 117,526
Oct 2004 / 123,394
Nov 2004 / 131,364
Dec 2004 / 137,199
Jan 2005 / 140,620
Feb 2005 / 146,507
Mar 2005 / 152,088
Apr 2005 / 154,929
May 2005 / 158,351
Jun 2005 / 156,538
Jul 2005 / 155,504
Aug 2005 / 155,985
Sep 2005 / 154,252
Oct 2005 / 154,058
Nov 2005 / 152,807
Dec 2005 / 154,284
Jan 2006 / 155,870
Feb 2006 / 155,586
Mar 2006 / 154,409
Apr 2006 / 158,188
May 2006 / 163,065
Jun 2006 / 168,947
Jul 2006 / 176,415
Aug 2006 / 179,397
Sep 2006 / 184,989
Oct 2006 / 189,910
Nov 2006 / 194,016
Dec 2006 / 195,504
Jan 2007 / 198,993
Feb 2007 / 204,638
Mar 2007 / 214,629
Apr 2007 / 217,674
May 2007 / 217,544
Jun 2007 / 218,109
Jul 2007 / 218,441
Aug 2007 / 220,285
Sep 2007 / 219,954
Oct 2007 / 219,604
Nov 2007 / 218,116
Dec 2007 / 218,497
Jan 2008 / 221,565
Feb 2008 / 223,489
Mar 2008 / 221,439
Apr 2008 / 224,972
May 2008 / 230,087
Jun 2008 / 235,266
Jul 2008 / 236,603
Aug 2008 / 236,123
Sep 2008 / 241,494
Oct 2008 / 245,853
Nov 2008 / 255,017
Dec 2008 / 259,832
Jan 2009 / 263,519
Feb 2009 / 267,560
Mar 2009 / 274,104
Apr 2009 / 280,544
May 2009 / 286,383
Jun 2009 / 292,229
Jul 2009 / 299,606
Aug 2009 / 312,114
Sep 2009* / 323,408

* extrapolated from 15 Sep 09

Appendix E Top 30 Managers-Net File Page Requests for September 2009

reqs / %bytes / last time / file
1185 / 7.21% / 16/Sep/09 00:02 / /job_evaluation.html
1011 / 7.02% / 16/Sep/09 00:02 / /paretoanalysis.html
734 / 0.24% / 15/Sep/09 23:59 / /robots.txt (this is a hidden transfer page)
711 / 5.15% / 16/Sep/09 00:05 / /stddev.html
707 / 8.37% / 15/Sep/09 23:34 / / (this is the alpha index)
590 / 3.12% / 15/Sep/09 23:34 / /administrativemanagement.html
562 / 4.78% / 15/Sep/09 23:39 / /statistical_process_control.html
432 / 3.21% / 15/Sep/09 22:27 / /workmeasurement.html
407 / 2.22% / 15/Sep/09 22:31 / /regression.html
296 / 1.22% / 15/Sep/09 22:00 / /kaizen.html
288 / 1.56% / 15/Sep/09 23:34 / /activityBC.html
271 / 1.05% / 15/Sep/09 23:53 / /home.html
271 / 1.74% / 15/Sep/09 21:50 / /decisionmaking.html
258 / 1.46% / 15/Sep/09 20:25 / /Biography/mcgregor.html
257 / 1.74% / 15/Sep/09 22:54 / /timestudy.html
250 / 1.07% / 15/Sep/09 23:22 / /control_charts.html
242 / 1.43% / 15/Sep/09 23:34 / /activity_sampling.html
240 / 3.68% / 15/Sep/09 23:00 / /Biography/Fayol.html
234 / 0.95% / 15/Sep/09 22:07 / /linearquadratic.html
225 / 1.20% / 15/Sep/09 22:59 / /zerodefects.html
202 / 1.28% / 15/Sep/09 23:29 / /frequencydistribution.html
195 / 0.90% / 15/Sep/09 23:07 / /methodstudy.html
185 / 1.29% / 15/Sep/09 20:35 / /pmts.html
181 / 0.81% / 16/Sep/09 00:02 / /brainstorming.html
177 / 0.90% / 15/Sep/09 23:34 / /affinitydiagram.html
166 / 1.20% / 15/Sep/09 23:41 / /total_quality_management.html
145 / 0.58% / 15/Sep/09 19:02 / /continuous_improvement.html
145 / 0.67% / 15/Sep/09 15:26 / /contents.html
142 / 1.02% / 15/Sep/09 23:23 / /datacollection.html
138 / 0.78% / 15/Sep/09 19:23 / /managementbyobjectives.html

Appendix F1 - Management Trends –Comparison of Techniques covered

in “A Handbook of Management Techniques” 1986 and 2006 editions

1986
edition / 2006
edition
Corporate Management[3] / 8 / 0
Marketing Management / 16 / 23
Operational Management[4] / 19 / 33
Financial Management / 32 / 36
Human Resource Management[5] / 24 / 16
New Technology[6] / 4 / 0
Management Science / 9 / 8
Planning and Resource Allocation / 2 / 2
Efficiency and Effectiveness / 10 / 9
Total / 124 / 127

Appendix F2 Management Trends - Comparison of Techniques covered

in “A Handbook of Management Techniques” 1986 and 2006 editions

1986
edition / 2006
edition
Corporate Management (8)
General Management
Corporate Planning
Corporate Planning Appraisal Techniques
Corporate Objectives
Long-range Forecasting
Strategic Planning
Organization Planning
Organization Development / Corporate Management
No coverage
Marketing Management (16)
Desk Research
Field Research
Field Sales Control
Marketing
Marketing Control
Marketing Planning
Marketing Research
Media Planning
Pricing
Product Life-cycle Analysis
Product Planning
Qualitative Research
Sales Forecasting
Sales Planning
Target Marketing
The Marketing Mix / Marketing Management (23)
Buyer Behaviour Analysis
Database Marketing
Desk Research
Distribution
Field Research
Marketing Control
Marketing Information Systems
Marketing Management Marketing Planning
Marketing Research
Positioning
Pricing
Product Life-cycle Analysis
Product Planning
Promotion
Qualitative Research
Relationship Marketing
Sales Control
Sales Forecasting
Sales Planning
Segmentation
Target Marketing
Web Marketing

Appendix F3 Management Trends - Comparison of Techniques covered

in “A Handbook of Management Techniques” 1986 and 2006 editions

1986
edition / 2006
edition
Operations Management (19)
Aggregate Planning
Capacity Planning
Computer-aided Design
Computer-aided Manufacture
Distribution Planning
Group Technology
Inventory Control
Job, Batch and Flow Production
Layout Planning
Make or Buy Decision
Materials Requirement Planning
Operations Management
Physical Distribution Management
Planned Maintenance
Production Planning and Control
Production Scheduling and Loading
Project Management
Robotics
Statistical Quality Control / Operational Management (33)
Aggregate Planning
Approach to Planning
Automation in Manufacturing
Automation in Services
Capacity Planning
Comparing Performance
Control of Schedules
Defining the Process
Designing a Master Schedule
Developing New Products
Extensions to MRP
Facility Layout
Facility Location
Forecasting
Improving the Process
Inventory Control
Just-in-Time Operations
Maintenance and Replacement
Material Requirements Planning
Measuring Performance
Operations and Products
Operations Strategy
Process Planning
Procurement
Product Design
Product Planning
Project Management
Quality Control
Quality Management
Short-term Scheduling
Supply-chain Management
Total Quality Management
Using Operations to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Appendix F4 Management Trends - Comparison of Techniques covered